White underprinting is a technique in which white ink is applied underneath some or all areas of your label design and text, creating opacity in critical areas. This opacity makes your design vibrant, clear, and easy to read. White underprinting is most often used for the following materials: clear, metallic, and brown kraft. Since metallic and brown kraft isn’t white, inks can appear different than expected – white underprinting can help ensure an accurate color match. Inks on clear labels, however, will appear transparent, which can minimize the label’s visual impact. In this article, we will focus on clear labels because they require extra considerations regarding design.
What color is your bottle and/or product?
This is important because the color of your bottle and product can be seen underneath a clear label to create an undesirable effect. If the inks are translucent, they can lose their vibrant look and may appear to be a different color. The same principle applies if your product is uniquely colored and is packaged in a clear container.
This is where white underprinting comes into play. We can print white ink behind the areas of your design where you don’t want the color of your bottle or product to show through. White ink adds a barrier preventing the color of your bottle/product from showing through and “mixing” with your design. The original colors of your design are preserved and are vibrant and opaque.
You may still want to consider white underpainting if your bottle is clear, but your product is white. As your product ages, the ink on your clear label will again be transparent, making the design and text difficult to see.
Do you want your artwork to have a transparent look?
There may be instances where you’d want to use the transparency of the ink in your design. Interesting effects can be accomplished using transparent text or images on a clear label. Just let your customer service representative know we won’t use white underprinting in this case. You can also choose to use white underprinting on only certain design aspects.
Does your label design feature tiny text?
We will continually add white ink behind non-black text to help with readability. This will also ensure smaller fonts are easily read on a clear label.
At Consolidated Label, we want our customers to be thrilled with their custom labels. When you place an order, your customer service representative will work with you to determine the best printing options for your project.
Applications of White Underprinting Across Different Industries
White underprinting has a lot of applications in various industries, offering enhanced label visibility. Examples of these industries include:
- Food and beverage: white underprinting helps text and graphics stand out on transparent or colored containers, making product details easy to read.
- Cosmetics and beauty products: for high-end packaging, white underprinting provides a clean canvas that helps vibrant colors pop, ensuring brand logos and descriptions are clear and attractive to the audience.
- Pharmaceuticals and shelf containers: it enhances readability on safety-critical labels, where products and instructions are legible, especially on translucent containers.
- Use of specialized printers: to print white ink, you’ll need a printer specifically designed for it. This type of ink does not print well on ordinary printers; however, at Consolidated Label Co., we can help with white ink printing.
- Setting up the design file: preparing your design file for white ink printing requires a few additional setup steps.
- Change the color mode to CMYK
- Adjust the settings of the new files
- Create a layer that needs white backing
- Review the artwork and save it in a PDF file
Each industry relies on white underprinting labels to meet specific labeling needs, ensuring that products are visually appealing and visible to customers.
What are the basics of printing in white ink?
Printing white ink on labels can be complex, mainly because this color does not follow the standard CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) color model. White is typically achieved by leaving areas unprinted so that the natural color of the paper or product can be shown through. However, when you need to print white ink on dark or colored surfaces or transparent materials, specialized equipment and techniques can help. Some of them include:
How to Create a White Underlayer
Below are steps to setting up your artwork for white ink printing in Adobe Illustrator.
Set your document’s color mode to CMYK mode (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black). To do so, click the feature File -> Document Color Mode -> CMYK Color.
Next, ensure all linked files are embedded and the fonts are highlighted. Open the Links panel, and choose the “Embed Image” feature in the menu. Select all the text and choose Create Outlines.
Duplicate any objects that need white backing onto a new layer. Expand fills and strokes for all vector art on this new layer. For images, use the pen tool to create a vector shape around the areas needing white backing, then remove the remaining image.
Check the artwork to confirm all areas requiring white backing are correctly darkened with the “WhiteInk” spot color, then save the file as a PDF.
The Power of White Ink Underprinting on Clear Labels
White ink printing is a critical technique that improves label design and brand portrayal, especially when working with different label materials, such as transparent, metallic, and kraft. It ensures that colors remain vibrant and clear, preventing any unwanted blending of ink with the background color of the product or packaging. By adding a layer of white ink, designs maintain their opacity, making them more legible and visually striking. White underprinting can help your labels stand out while delivering important product information. At Consolidated Label Co., we’re committed to providing expert support and quality results, ensuring that your custom labels are functional and beautiful.
